Bubba came to live with me two and a half years ago at the age
of four. Adopted from a rescue shelter, he had lived with the same mommy since he was eight months old and, aside from
his kittenhood, had never known any other home. His Mom developed a serious illness and was moving back to her
home down south to be close to family, and Bubba couldn't go with her. Nobody seemed to want a mature, 18
pound cat, and she thought he might have to go to a shelter, when a friend of hers, who is the daughter of my neighbor,
asked me if I'd take him.
His Mom was heartbroken to leave him and I was flattered
that she felt I would give him a good home and love him as she had.
Her biggest regret was that she'd had him de-clawed because her apartment complex required it.
She said he suffered terribly and that if she had know how it would hurt him, she never would have done it. She made
me promise never to take him to the vet who had done the de-clawing. She also wrote me a long letter, from Bubba, telling
me all his likes and dislikes, habits and quirks.
You can imagine how frightened he was at first, in fact, for the first three
days, he hid under the bed all day and only came out when I turned out the lights. Once it was dark he'd jump up on
the bed to be petted and loved. Gradually he came out and explored my little apartment and made himself at home.
As time went on he took charge, until now he runs the place and I take the orders.
One day I was watching TV and a southern sounding woman was speaking. She called out "Hey
Bub!" and Bubba came running into the room. He looked around, expectant and then confused, and I just about cried -
he thought it was his mom! I knew then just how sensitive he is and how loyal.
Bub is the nicest cat I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. He's gentle and attentive
and talks to me all the time, using a large vocabulary ranging from tiny kitten cries to a deep baritone yowl. He lets
me know if things are not to his liking and won't stop complaining until I fix it. He is undemanding, eats his dry cat
food (Max Cat, please) and never begs for table food, never jumps on the kitchen counters, and has impeccable litter box habits
(he's an Arm & Hammer Super Scoop man). He loves visitors, watching TV, sitting on window sills and, occasionally
coming out into the back yard to bask in the sun (supervised by me, of course). I grow fresh catnip for him in the garden,
but he prefers dried.
I hope you've enjoyed meeting my Bubba Luvva Boy!
